Dark-room lantern.



G. M. FIEDLER.

DARK ROOM LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE z, 1913.

1,077,694; Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

'2 SHEBTSSHEET 1.

WITNE88E8 INVENTOR /.3 32, Q

G. M. FIEDLER. DARK ROOM LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 1913.

2 H mm 4 ,H E. H w? 0 Nu dH mm H w a P 4 w 7 7 0 m W. 1

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH 130., WASHINGTON, D. c.

GUSTAV MAX rrnntnn, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

nanniaooiu LANTERN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

Application filed June 2,1913; Serial No. 771,197.

T0 a'ZZ'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUSTAV MAX FIEDLER, a subject of the German Emperor, and resi dent of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Dark-Room Lanterns, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to lanterns specially adapted for use'in photographers dark rooms,although applicable for other various purposes.

One of the objects of the invention is to produce a device of this'type which is foldable', exceedingly light and-compact to enable 'photographer to carry it along in a satchel with the other utensils adapted for use ind-ark rooms.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a device of this class which is simple in construction, eiiicient in operation and which can be manufactured on a'commercial scale, or in other words which not so diflicult to produce as to be beyond the reasonable cost of such an article.

With these and other objects in view, which'will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in thecombination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter fully described, pointed out in the appended claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several. parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

One of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of a lantern constructed in accordance with the present invention in its extended position; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same in its folded state; Fig. 3 is a central vertical section taken through the lantern: Fig. 1 is a section taken on line 4.4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4:.

The device shown in the drawings is made in the form of a box, comprising a rear wall 10, two parallel spaced sides 11 and 12, abottom 13 and a top 14. The sides, bottom and top are formed in a manner hereinafter to be described and hinged to the rear wall 10. The front wall of the device is made of a glass plate 15, red colored as usual in devices of this class. With the exception of the front wall 15, all elements of thelantern are, preferably, made of sheet metal to give a comparatively light and compact struc ture, although. it will be easily seen thatthe same can be made of any other suitable ma terial.

. Going now more into details, the rear wall of the device comprises a rectangular piece of sheet metal bent at its upper and lower edgesto form inwardly projecting flanges 16 and-17, respectively. To these flanges are secured, by means of hinges 18 and 19, the top l l and bottom 13, respectively. The bottom 13 consists also of a rectangular piece of sheetmetal, bent up at its side edges and at its front edge to form upwardly project-ing flanges 20 at its sides and a flange 21 at its front edge, the flange 21 connecting the side flanges 20, 20 Parallel with the side flanges 20 are disposed upon the bottom upwardly extending strips 22, the distance between said strips and the flanges 20 corresponding substantially to the thickness of the sides of the device; The sides 11 and 12 are also of rectangular configuration, hinged at 23 and 24: to the inwardly projecting flanges 16 and 17 or the rear wall 10. Inwardly projecting flanges 25 and 26 are formed along the longitudinal edgesof the sides 11 and 12, the flanges 26 abutting against the outer face of the rear wall, when the lantern is in its extended position. Parallel with the front flanges 25 of the sides are disposed upon the inner faces of the latter strips 27 at a distance from the said flanges which corresponds to the thickness of the glass plate 15.

The top of the device comprises a rectangular sheet of metal, hinged at 18, as above described, to the flange 16 of the rear wall 10, and provided along its side edges with downwardly projecting flanges 28 and along its front edge with a downwardly projecting flange 29, which connects the said sideflanges. The top is provided with an aperture 80, covered by a hood 31, which insures a constant supply of air to the interior of the lantern, but prevents any possibility of rays of light passing from the lamp therein into the dark room.

A source of light, for instance in the form of a kerosene lamp 32, is provided, said lamp being removable from the lantern, and adapted to be packed away independently of the same.

The operation of this device is as follows: Inasmuch as the sides, bottom and top of the device are hinged to the rear wall 10 of the same, they can be folded into substantially parallel relation to the said rear Wall. More particularly, first one of the side walls is folded upon the rear wall, then the other side upon said first named side, after which the top and bottom are folded upon said last named side, the parts then occupying the positions shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. If it is intended to set up the device into its operative position, the top 14 is extended at right angles to the rear wall, the strip of material 1% of said top, which extends beyond its hinges 18, preventing a further movement thereof. The bottom 13 is then swung 180, or in other words into substantially parallel relation to the rear wall. After this, the two sides are brought into planes at right angles to the plane of the rear wall, the rear flanges 26 of said sides abutting then against the outer face of the rear wall and the upper edges of said sides abutting against the inner faces of the side flanges 28 ofthe top. The glass plate 15 is then inserted between the strips 27 and the front flanges 25 of the sides, pushed upward until its upper edge contacts with the inner face of the top, after which the bottom is swung around its hinges into a plane at right angles to the rear wall, the lower edges of the sides thereby being engaged with the side flanges 20 and the strips 22 of said bottom, the lamp being, of course, previously lit and placed in the box.

It is obvious that the strips 22 and the flanges 20 of the bottom, if placed close enough to each other, have a gripping effect upon the sides to hold the bottom of the device in its proper position. The glass plate, on the other hand, spreads the elements of the lantern, that is to say it forces the sides thereof tightly against the flanges of the top and bottom of the same. It should be noted that, inasmuch as the flanges of r the top and bottom abut against the sides and the front of the device, and since the rear flanges 26 of the sides abut against the outer face of the rear wall of the box, any

possibility of rays of light passing from the turned flanges, one set of said flanges being adapted to bear against the outer face of said rear wall, said top and bottom having side and front flanges, the flanges of said top projecting downward and the flanges of said bottom upward, a glass plate constituting the front of said box and causing said sides to abut against the side flanges of said top and bottom, and means on said sides adapted to hold said glass plate against the front flanges of said top and bottom and the corresponding flanges of said sides.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 22nd day of May, A. D. 1913.

v GUSTAV MAX FIEDLER. Witnesses 'S. BIRNBAUM,

SIGMUND Hnrzoe.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

